An excellent learning environment where children feel safe and happy.

A warm welcome

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to our unique and exciting school community. The work of St John’s is grounded in an educational philosophy that promotes our distinctive Christian character as a church school and strives for excellence in learning.

Mr Hilliam

Head of school

The behaviour of all pupils is outstanding, both in and outside the classroom. Pupils work hard and show interest and concern for one another. They are very proud of the school and their achievements.

The Office

At the heart of every good school is an efficient well run office and St John's is no exception. We are extremely proud of our office staff who work so tirelessly behind the scenes to make things run smoothly.

Curriculum

The Government published the National Curriculum (Pdf, 1.2mb) in 2014 which as a school we follow.

It includes resources such as word lists and spelling lists etc. for different year groups in English, and gradually classes will be moving towards embedding these requirements and putting them into practice.

Mathematics also contains much information about what is required to be taught, and information about how children will be assessed on their knowledge will take place at the end of each Key Stage. Information on this has yet to be finalised through government guidelines.

Your class teacher will provide you with information regarding any new requirements when it becomes effective, as different year groups will adopt the new curriculum at different times, as per the government guidelines.

All schools are required to publish their own distinctive School Curriculum, incorporating the National Curriculum which we are currently developing at St. John's. This will give a year group by year group overview of how we plan to deliver this in our school.

Vision and values

Our school motto

Our new school motto is 'Celebrate and learn together'. These words were chosen by staff, pupils, governors and parents of St John's School, with support and input from Reverend M'Caw. Please also see the explanation of what our school motto means (Pdf, 91kb).

Vision

The school aims to serve its community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of Christian belief and practice. It encourages an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith and promotes Christian values through the experience it offers to all its pupils.

Values

In 2013-14 the whole school community was involved in devising its values. This was achieved during two school away days for governors, teachers and staff and was led by the diocese. These values are firmly based upon the Christian values of the National Society. Our values are:

Creativity

Trust

Respect

Family

Peace

Freedom

Fun

Wisdom

Positivity

These values are of the highest importance to school life as they underpin the ethos and culture of the school community. They are prominently displayed in a painting of a values tree on the wall of the school hall and on canvases in every classroom. The values tree is referred to in assemblies and services.

The story of our logo

St John’s school has as its logo the centuries old image of Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God.’ This title for Jesus comes from John the Baptist pointing to him in the Gospel of St John in chapter 1, verse 29, and saying, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Since the school is named after John the Baptist (following the dedication of St John’s Church in the town), the image reflects John’s chief purpose of pointing to the importance of Jesus.

St John's CofE Primary School

Jesus is spoken of as a lamb because this symbolises his innocence. The banner resting on his shoulder and held in its right foreleg represents the cross on which he died and the victory which he has won when he rose from the dead.

The school logo is a colourful representation of the schools Christian roots and values.